Doctors win in court, continue to deliver babies in Brunswick, Maine

Three days before Christmas in 2006, Parkview Hospital in Brunswick, Maine, filed a lawsuit against two of its former obstetricians, Dr. Melissa Streeter and Dr. Gregory Gimbel, who had recently left Parkview and taken jobs at MidCoast Hospital, also located in Brunswick.

Parkview claimed the doctors were in breach of covenants not to compete, and that the moves had severely damaged Parkview's obstetrical practice. The hospital asked a judge to immediately stop Streeter and Gimbel from practicing.

Attorneys Terry Garmey and his team entered the fray on behalf of Streeter and Gimbel. The attorneys argued that the doctors were not in violation of a non-compete agreement. The judicial system had no right to tell pregnant women they could not choose their delivery doctors, Garmey and Lorenzatti argued. A judge agreed. Within five days of the lawsuit being filed, the Court denied Parkview's request for an injunction. Streeter and Gimbel, who had been delivering babies in Brunswick for more than 20 years, were allowed to remain in practice at MidCoast.

Garmey and his team continued to aggressively defend the interests of Streeter and Gimbel throughout the next year, as Parkview sought more than $2 million in damages from the doctors, based on allegations that hundreds of patients followed them to MidCoast. In Court, Garmey showed that conditions at Parkview, and material breaches by the hospital, left the doctors little choice but to leave. The Court dismissed Parkview's claims against Gimbel, and the hospital settled all of its remaining claims before going to trial.

Throughout the litigation, MidCoast Hospital stood by Dr. Streeter, Dr. Gimbel, and their defense team. The doctors continue to practice at MidCoast.